The grand essentials of happiness are: something to do, something to love, and something to hope for.
This blog with lots of photos is intended for all my friends, family, and relatives.

Sunday, December 16, 2012

Akita International University festival

Hubby and I went to see the festival of Akita International University (AIU) on 7th October. It was the first day of the two day festival organized by the students of the university, which was open to everyone. AIU is located in Akita city and offers International Liberal Arts education entirely in English. The university provides a brilliant cross-cultural environment for all of its students.

Hubby and I reached near AIU campus at about 12.30 pm and parked our car at a nearby car parking area. On entering inside the university campus, we saw that there were many international students from various countries. It was nice to see the energy and enthusiasm of the students in organizing various events in the festival.

I am standing at the main entrance of AIU

Pathway leading to the cafeteria main building

On the campus ground located to our left side just next to the main entrance of the university, we saw that open air live music concert was going on. We spent some time enjoying the concert. It was nice to listen to electric guitar music and many songs. In addition, many food stalls were set up along a small street on the right side of the pathway leading to the cafeteria main building of the campus. These food stalls offered interesting food items from various countries.

People enjoying open air live music concert

Open air live music concert

Hubby enjoying the music concert

Street food stalls

Food stalls as viewed from the front entrance of the cafeteria main building

On entering inside the cafeteria main building, we saw the AIU mascot character named One. While walking inside the building, we noticed that the students had put in a lot of effort to decorate the corridors and the classrooms that were used for the purpose of the festival. Several exhibitions were held and there was a festive mood all around. In one of the rooms an exhibition named Halloween Cafe was held. Here we saw many students and visitors dressed in funny Halloween costumes. In yet another room, we enjoyed listening to a mini-concert at Acoustic Cafe.

I am standing next to the AIU mascot character One

Hubby posing in a decorated corridor of the building

Halloween Cafe

Students and visitors dressed in Halloween costumes

Funny Halloween costumes

Mini-concert at Acoustic Cafe

Afterwards we left the first building and started walking towards another building. While walking, we saw an interesting way of eating udon noodles called nagashi-udon (flowing udon). The noodles were placed in an extraordinarily long flume of bamboo whose one end was located in the second floor room of a building and the other end was on the pathway in the campus. The bamboo flume pipe carried clear cold water. At one end of the flume pipe located on the second floor room, a student of AIU fed noodles down the pipe. Crowding around the pipe on the pathway, kids and visitors plucked the noodles out of the flume pipe with chopsticks, dipped them into their cups of dipping sauce, and ate them. A couple of times chocolates and sweets came down the flume pipe and kids got very excited seeing the sweets. Walking further along the pathway, we saw many unique exhibition stalls set up by the students that sold goods and products of various countries.

Setup for nagashi-udon noodles

A student feeding noodles down the bamboo flume pipe from a room located on the second floor of a building

Kids and visitors eagerly waiting to pluck the noodles out of the flume pipe

Several stalls selling goods and products of various countries

Next we went to the Library building. At the entrance hallway, we saw a display of beautiful dolls from many countries around the world. The library main hall is semicircular in shape and exquisitely built with trees from local cedar forests. Inside the library, there are many books, journals, magazines, digital media, and other interesting reading materials. We loved seeing the gorgeous semicircular hall and spend some time reading magazines.

Display of dolls from many countries

Inside the library

Interior view of the semicircular library main hall

I am appreciating the gorgeous library hall

Afterwards we went to yet another building where we saw that many funny and interesting games were set up for small kids. It is fun to see kids really enjoying ring-a-bottle game. While walking inside the second floor of the building, we noted that the corridor was decorated in a very unique way. Looking out of the corridor, we saw that many visitors were having picnic on the grass lawn inside the campus. We also saw that many food stalls were set up in a row. Amongst the visitors having food from various food stalls, we noticed the mascot character of Akita prefecture named Sugichi-kun interacting with visitors.

Various games set up for small kids

Hubby standing next to an interesting decoration in the second floor corridor of the building

Visitors having picnic on the grass lawn

Sugichi-kun interacting with visitors near the food stalls

Hubby and I enjoyed AIU festival and had a fun filled day. We were inside the university campus until 4.30 pm and then went to a game center in Akita city. Hubby played there for some time and won two LED flashlights.

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About Me

I am an Indian living in Japan for the past 19 years. I am a scientist researcher of Physics by profession. However since October 2008, I am taking a long break from my job and enjoying the life of a homemaker in Akita prefecture with my Japanese hubby. Akita prefecture is in northern Japan and is known for its scenic natural beauty. In this blog I write about my life with hubby, everyday life experiences, and our sightseeing trips. We both love visiting news places a lot!